The two teams that fought for the Carabao Cup (EFL Cup) championship cup will meet in the league this time to claim the right to advance to the European Football Federation Champions League (UCL).
Newcastle United and Manchester United clash in the 29th round of the English Premier League (EPL) in the 2022-23 season at St. James Park, located in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tawinweir, England at 0:30 on the 3rd (Korean time).
The two teams faced off in the EFL Cup Final just about a month ago (last February 27) at Wembley Stadium in England. At that time, the result was Manchester United’s 2-0 victory, and Man United was able to escape from the club’s dark days by lifting the official championship cup in about six years after winning the Europa League (UEL) in 2017. On the contrary, Newcastle aimed to win the club’s first EFL Cup, but unfortunately fell on its knees.
Manchester United and Newcastle, who clashed over the championship cup, will face off in the league this time. Currently, Newcastle is 5th with 47 points and Manchester United are 3rd with 50 points.
# Europe’s ‘Counterattack King’,
The first-class contributor to Man Utd’s defeat of Newcastle in the EFL Cup final was, of course, Marcus Rashford. He scored the team’s second goal and the key goal at the time, and is clearly responsible for United’s attack this season. Rashford dropped out of the England national team due to an injury during the A match in March, but returned to team training ahead of this match and increased his chances of playing against Newcastle.
According to the sports statistics site ‘Opta’ (opta), as of March 10th, Manchester United scored 12 goals in a quick counterattack in the official competition, which is the highest score among teams belonging to Europe’s ‘5 major leagues’. Six of these 12 goals were scored by Rashford, the highest scorer among players in Europe’s top five leagues. Rashford, who leads the attack of the ‘counterattack king’ Manchester United, is recording the most goals in the team this season with 14 goals in 26 matches in the league.
Man Utd, whose key players have also returned, is also on the rise. After losing 0-7 to Liverpool in the league on the 6th of last month, United has no defeat with 3 wins and 1 draw in 4 official matches. In addition, this season against Newcastle, they are undefeated with 1 win and 1 draw in 2 matches, and at the same time, they did not concede a single goal in the previous 2 matches.
However, the variable is Casemiro’s ‘missing’ and the league atmosphere. Casemiro is banned from playing 4 league games after being sent off against Southampton on the 13th, so he cannot play against Newcastle. Casemiro scored against Newcastle alongside Rashford in the last EFL Cup final. In addition, although Manchester United’s recent official game performance is positive, it is a concern for Man United that they have not scored a single goal against Southampton and Liverpool in the previous two league games.
# Best ‘shield’ in the league, ‘revenge’ in the EFL Cup
If Manchester United has a window of quick counterattack this season, Newcastle have the best ‘shield’ in the league. Newcastle has conceded 19 points in 26 league games this season, recording a goal loss rate of ‘0.7’ per game. This is the lowest run rate in the Premier League based on 26R, and the lowest run rate after SSC Napoli and Barcelona in Europe’s ‘5 major leagues’.
Newcastle are as sharp in attack as they are in solid defense. Based on the round as above, Newcastle is recording 1.5 goals per game (먹튀검증8th in the league) with 39 goals in the league, and only 0.1 goals away from Manchester United, who are recording an average of 1.6 goals in the league (7th in the league). In addition, he has scored 1 goal per game with 5 goals in 5 recent league games.
Above all, Man Utd’s key midfielder Casemiro, who recently lost the EFL Cup, is unable to compete, and Rashford is not in normal condition due to injury. In particular, fans criticized Rashford for not concentrating on his recovery after leaving the national team after it was confirmed that he had traveled to the United States during the A-match period, although he had normally completed team training. It is a situation where the ‘best situation’ can be drawn where the highest scorer and key player in Man Utd cannot compete.
However, even in the above situation, there is a ‘weakness’ that Newcastle is not sure of victory. Newcastle failed to score a single goal in the last 5 matches against Liverpool (6th), Manchester City (2nd), and Manchester United (3rd), who are ranked 6th or higher in the league. Including Manchester United, Arsenal, Manchester City,
The reason why Newcastle’s dominance cannot be certain even in the best situation where the opposing team’s ace is uncertain is because there is no victory against Manchester United and the top teams in the league this season.
Manchester United are currently third in the league with 50 points from 26 matches, while Newcastle are fifth with 47 points from 26 matches. If Man Utd wins over Newcastle, it will further widen the gap with 4th place Tottenham (49 points in 28 matches) with 53 points from 27 matches, solidifying third place and moving closer to the UCL finals next season.
If Newcastle also wins against Man Utd, with 50 points from 27 games, it can settle for 3rd place in the league beyond Tottenham and Man Utd, and can take an advantageous position in advancing to the UCL finals, which is given up to 4th place. In addition, Man United have failed to win points in their last three league matches, which will still allow Tottenham to pursue.
Now that the league has entered the second half of this season, the match between the two teams will go beyond just 3 points and become an important match that will determine the fate of the team next season.